Battery operated spray head having an improved housing

ABSTRACT

A three part housing for a battery powered spray head includes a left half shell, a right half shell and a hinged top. The batteries are located in the upper portion of the housing below the hinged top (battery cover). The inner front of the top is provided with a downward depending latch member and a spring biased latch member is provided inside the housing. The spring biased latch member is actuated by inserting a pin (or stylus) through a hole in one of the half shells. This prevents accidental opening of the battery cover.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/034,600, entitled “Battery Operated Spray Head Retrofittableonto Existing Pump Spray Containers and Producing SubstantiallyContinuous Spray,” filed Jan. 13, 2005, the complete disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates broadly to battery operated fluid pumps. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a battery operated fluid pumpcontained in a spray head.

2. State of the Art

Many household and industrial products are sold in containers thatinclude a sprayer. These products include cleansers, insecticides,polishes, waxes, etc. There are several kinds of sprayers used withthese products. Perhaps the most common is the manual push button ortrigger operated pump which is seen most frequently on liquid cleansers.It has the advantage of being environmentally friendly (i.e. it does notrequire a propellant) but the disadvantage of delivering fluid in aseries of pulses rather than in a continuous spray. Another well knownsprayer is the aerosol can which is sealed and charged with a gaspropellant. This sprayer has the advantage that it dispenses fluid in acontinuous spray, but has several disadvantages. One disadvantage isthat the can cannot be refilled. Another disadvantage is that dependingon the gas used to charge the container, the propellant can beenvironmentally unfriendly. While environmentally friendly propellantsdo exist, generally, they do not charge as well as the unfriendly gases.Still another popular sprayer is the air pump sprayer seen mostfrequently with insecticides and liquid garden products. The pumpsprayer includes a hand operated air pump which is used to charge thecontainer with compressed air. After it is charged, it operates muchlike an aerosol can. The pump sprayer is environmentally friendly butrequires considerable effort to keep charged because air is not asefficient a propellant as environmentally unfriendly gases such as FREONor hydrocarbon gasses.

In recent years there has been some experimentation with battery poweredpump sprayers. Most of these devices include a spray mechanism which issimilar to the ubiquitous push button (or trigger) pump sprayer butwhich is coupled to a battery powered electric motor by some type oflinkage which converts the rotary action of the motor into anoscillatory motion to drive the pump piston. Many of these batteryoperated pump sprayers are designed to work only with a speciallyconstructed bottle, i.e. they are not retrofittable to existing pumpspray bottles. Many also have weight distribution problems, i.e. theycause the bottle to which they are attached to tip over. Many of thesebattery powered pumps have large priming volumes, thus causing a delaybetween the time the pump is activated and the time liquid begins to bedispensed. Significantly, these pumps do not really provide a constantspray. They provide a continuous pulsed spray like that obtained byrepeatedly squeezing the trigger or pushing the button on a handoperated spray pump. This is apparently one reason why such batteryoperated sprayers have not had commercial success.

Parent application Ser. No. 11/034,600 discloses a battery operatedspray pump which includes a piston pump having a double end cam which ispushed by a pair of rotating cam pushers coupled to the electric motorvia a gear transmission. The double end cam has an unequal duty cycle,i.e. takes more time to expel fluid from the piston cylinder than ittakes to fill the cylinder. The cam pushers rotate at a speed which, inconjunction with the duty cycle of the cam, produces a low pressurenearly constant stream. According to the presently preferred embodiment,the duty cycle of the cam is approximately 270° and the speed of the campushers is approximately three rpm.

While the battery operated pump sprayer of the parent applicationprovides significant improvement over the art, in order to obtaincommercial success, not only do the pumping issues need to be addressed,but other issues regarding the batteries need to be properly addressed.For example, it is important that the battery cover protect thebatteries from liquids. It is also important that the battery cover noteasily detach unintentionally.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a battery operatedspray head.

It is another object of the invention to provide a battery operatedspray head housing which protects the batteries from liquid.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a battery operatedspray head housing with a battery compartment cover that resistsinadvertent removal.

In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, abattery operated spray head according to the invention includes anelectric pump assembly with a drive train, an inlet and outlet portassembly, an inlet tube, a trigger, a microswitch, battery contacts, athreaded closure, and a closure retainer. A three part housing containsthe pump assembly, drive train, most of the inlet and outlet portassembly, the microswitch, and two AA batteries. The trigger is coupledto the bottom front of the housing. The closure retainer is coupled tothe bottom of the housing behind the trigger with the closure and theinlet tube depending therefrom.

The three part housing includes a left half shell, a right half shelland a hinged top. The batteries are located in the upper portion of thehousing below the hinged top (battery cover). The left half shell andthe right half shell are coupled to each other by three self tappingscrews which extend through three holes in the right half shell andengage three cylindrical posts in the left half shell. An additionalpost located at the bottom rear of the housing acts as a hinge axle forthe top. Thus it will be appreciated that the hinged top covers most ofthe back of the housing as well.

According to one aspect of the invention, the inner front of the top isprovided with a downward depending latch member and a spring biasedlatch member is provided inside the housing. The spring biased latchmember is actuated by inserting a pin (or stylus) through a hole in oneof the half shells. This prevents accidental opening of the batterycover. It also prevents children from opening the cover and accessingthe interior of the housing. As used herein, the term “stylus” shallmeans any object which is dimensioned to fit into the hole and actuatethe latch member.

According to another aspect of the invention, the upper edges of thehalf shells are provided with flanges which are received inside thecover when the cover is closed. The left and right half shells are alsoprovided with a gutter-like structure (hereinafter “gutter”) adjacent tothe battery cover which extend across the sides and down the back of thehousing.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentto those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the provided figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a battery operated spray headincorporating a housing according to the invention;

FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view of an optional inlet tubeassembly;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a battery cover according to theinvention;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the battery cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2B is a rear elevational view of the battery cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2C is a bottom view of the battery cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2D is a section taken-along line 2D-2D in FIG. 2C;

FIG. 2E is a section taken along line 2E-2E in FIG. 2C;

FIG. 2F is a front elevational view of the battery cover;

FIG. 3 is an inside elevational view of a left hand housing componentaccording to the invention;

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the left hand housing component of FIG.3;

FIG. 3B is a rear elevational view of the left hand housing component ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 3C is a bottom plan view of the left hand housing component of FIG.3;

FIG. 3D is a top plan view of the left hand housing component of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3E is a front elevational view of the left hand housing componentof FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is an inside elevational view of a right hand housing componentaccording to the invention;

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the right hand housing component ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 4B is a rear elevational view of the right hand housing componentof FIG. 4;

FIG. 4C is a bottom plan view of the right hand housing component ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 4D is a top plan view of the right hand housing component of FIG.4;

FIG. 4E is a front elevational view of the right hand housing componentof FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is a transparent rear elevational view of the three componenthousing assembled; and

FIG. 6 is a transparent front elevational view of the three componenthousing assembled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to FIG. 1, a battery operated spray head 10 according to theinvention includes an electric pump assembly with a drive train 12, aninlet and outlet port assembly 14 including a nozzle 15, a substantiallyrigid inlet tube 16, a trigger 18, a microswitch 20, battery contacts22, a threaded closure 24, and a closure retainer 26. The trigger 18 isarranged to engage the microswitch 20 and a vent assembly which includesa vent piston 28, a product valve 30, a vent spring 32, and a venthousing 34. A three part housing 36, 38, 40 contains the pump assemblyand drive train 12, most of the inlet and outlet port assembly 14(except for the nozzle 15), the microswitch 20, the vent components28-34, the battery contacts 22, and two AA batteries 42. The trigger 18is coupled to the bottom front of the housing. The closure retainer 26is coupled to the bottom of the housing behind the trigger with theclosure 24 and the inlet tube 16 depending therefrom. A closure gasket44 is received inside the closure 24.

Before turning to the details of the housing, it is noted that FIG. 1Ashows an optional inlet tube assembly 46 which allows the pump to beoperated in an inverted position. The assembly 46 includes a nut 48which acts as a weight, a weight adapter 50, a flexible tube 52, a tubeadapter/inlet port 54 and a ball 56. The tube 52 is coupled to the tubeadapter by a two piece tube retainer 53 and is coupled to the weightadapter 50 by a two piece tube retainer 60. The ball 56 resides in theinlet port and acts as a one-way valve. When the spray head 10 isequipped with the inlet tube assembly 46 and attached to a bottle ofliquid to be sprayed, the weight 48 assures that the end of the inlettube 52 remains submersed in the liquid even if the bottle and sprayhead are inverted.

The three part housing includes a left half shell 36, a right half shell38 and a hinged top 40. FIGS. 2 and 2A-2F illustrate details of the top40. It is generally scoop-shaped having a convex outer wall upperportion 62 which sweeps down to a convex back 64, the end of whichsupports a hinge member 66. According to the illustrated embodiment, thefront of the top 62 is provided with a friction gripping surface 68.From the middle to the rear of the top 62 are four grooves 70 whichextend onto the back 64. There are two ribs 72, 74 on the interior ofthe cover 40 (which embrace batteries) and at the front end of theinterior is a catch 76 which interacts with a latch (78 in FIG. 1) asdescribed in detail below. The latch 78 has a cylindrical member 78 afrom which a radially extending catch member 78 b extends. An integralspring 78 c is provided at one end of the cylindrical member 78 a.

The left half shell 36 is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 3A-3E. The halfshell 36 has an open top 80 with a generally convex edge that slopesback to a convex back 82. The outer side 84 is also convex from top tobottom and from front to back. The front 86 is generally flat in theupper portion which defines half a hole 87 for the inlet and outlet portassembly (14 in FIG. 1) and curves in a lower portion which defines halfan opening for the trigger (18 in FIG. 1). The interior presents threehollow connecting posts 88, 90, and 92 for coupling the left half shellwith the right half shell. A cover axle 94 is located at the extremebottom rear of the half shell, beneath the connecting post 92. Thebottom defines a half hole 96 for mounting the closure retainer (26 inFIG. 1). A through bore 98 is located in the extreme upper front of thehalf shell just forward of the connecting post 88 and a trigger pivotsupport 100 extends along side the connecting post 90. The through bore98 is arranged to receive a portion of the cylindrical member 78 a(FIG. 1) of the latch 78. A battery shelf 102 is located below the upperopening 80. The upper opening 80 is provided with an upstanding flange104 extending from the front to the back of the opening. On the exteriorof the half shell, beneath the flange 104 is a gutter 106 which extendsfrom the very front to the very back of the half shell sweeping down andacross on the back 82.

FIGS. 4 and 4A-4E illustrate the right half shell 38. The exterior ofthe half shell 38 is substantially identical to the shell 36, but amirror image thereof. In particular, the half shell has a battery shelf102′ which is the same as 102 but a mirror image, a flange 104′ which isthe same as the flange 104, but a mirror image, and a gutter 106′ whichis the same as 106 but a mirror image. The shell 38 has three throughbores 108, 110, 112, a trigger pivot support 114, and a hinge axlesocket 116. The through bores 108, 110, 112, are dimensioned to receiveself tapping screws 118, 120, 122 (FIG. 1) which thread into the hollowconnecting posts 80,90, 92 (FIG. 3) of the left half shell.

Referring now to all of the figures, when the three pieces are assembledas shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, batteries 42 are located on the batteryshelves 102, 102′ directly beneath the cover 40. The hinge member 66 ofthe top 40 is pivotally mounted on the axle 94. When the top 40 isclosed as shown, the front catch 76 is engaged by the catch member 78 bof the latch 78. A portion of the cylindrical member 78 a extends intothe bore 98 (but preferably remains recessed within it) biased by thespring portion 78 c of the latch 78. This prevents the top cover 40 fromopening on its own. In order to unlatch the cover, a pin or a stylus isinserted into the bore 98 which moves the recessed cylindrical member 78a against the spring 78 c and moves the catch 78 b out of engagementwith the catch 76 on the cover. While holding the latch 78 in thismanner, the friction surface 68 on the front of the cover is used tolift the cover and pivot it open on the axle 94.

When the cover is closed as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the flanges 104,104′ extend into the cover and the lower edge of the cover is nestedbetween the gutters 106, 106′. Thus, there is no seam between the topcover and the opening to the batteries through which liquid can enter todamage the batteries. Moreover, if liquid should fall on top of thecover 40, it will be directed towards the bottom back of the housing bythe gutters 106, 106′ and the grooves 70 or towards the front of thehousing by the gutters 106, 106′.

There have been described and illustrated herein a battery operatedspray head having an improved housing. While particular embodiments ofthe invention have been described, it is not intended that the inventionbe limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad inscope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise.It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yetother modifications could be made to the provided invention withoutdeviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.

1. A housing for a battery powered spray head, comprising: a left sidewall and a right side wall coupled to each other and defining anenclosure having a battery space for storing at least one battery; abattery cover pivotally coupled to at least one of said left and rightside walls and being movable from a first position which covers saidbattery space to a second position wherein said battery space isuncovered, said battery cover having an interior catch member; and abiased latch member located in said enclosure, said latch memberengaging said catch member when said battery cover is in said firstposition, wherein one of said side walls has a through bore that isseparate and distinct from said biased latch member, said through boreleading to and aligned with said biased latch member whereby said biasedlatch means is disengaged from said catch member by inserting a stylusinto said through bore.
 2. A housing according to claim 1, wherein: saidbiased latch member is a unitary member which includes a rod, a catchand a spring.
 3. A housing according to claim 2, wherein: said rodextends in to said through bore but remains recessed relative to theouter surface of said side wall having said through bore.
 4. A housingaccording to claim 2, wherein: said catch extends radially from saidrod.
 5. A housing according to claim 2, wherein: said spring issubstantially V-shaped.
 6. A housing according to claim 1, wherein: saidbattery cover has a friction gripping surface on its exterior.
 7. Ahousing according to claim 1, wherein: said battery cover pivots on arod extending between said left and right side walls at a lower rearportion thereof.
 8. A battery powered spray head, comprising: an inlettube; an electric pump coupled to said inlet tube; an outlet nozzlecoupled to said electric pump; and a housing containing said electricpump and at least a portion of said outlet nozzle, wherein said housingincludes a left side wall and a right side wall coupled to each otherand defining an enclosure having a battery space for storing at leastone battery; a battery cover pivotally coupled to at least one of saidleft and right side walls and being movable from a first position whichcovers said battery space to a second position wherein said batteryspace is uncovered, said battery cover having an interior catch member;and a biased latch member located in said enclosure, said latch memberengaging said catch member when said battery cover is in said firstposition, wherein one of said side walls has a through bore that isseparate and distinct from said biased latched member, said through boreleading to and aligned with said biased latch member whereby said biasedlatch means is disengaged from said catch member by inserting a stylusinto said through bore.
 9. A spray head according to claim 8, wherein:said biased latch member is a unitary member which includes a rod, acatch and a spring.
 10. A spray head according to claim 9, wherein: saidrod extends in to said through bore but remains recessed relative to theouter surface of said side wall having said through bore.
 11. A sprayhead according to claim 9, wherein: said catch extends radially fromsaid rod.
 12. A spray head according to claim 9, wherein: said spring issubstantially V-shaped.
 13. A spray head according to claim 8, wherein:said battery cover has a friction gripping surface on its exterior. 14.A spray head according to claim 8, wherein: said battery cover pivots ona rod extending between said left and right side walls at a lower rearportion thereof.